Twilight Hour
by Purpleground
Summary: Po found himself awaken at sunset, without remembering the last thing he been through. Slowly, as the day passes, he started facing bizarre incidents which he never met.
1. Twilight Hour

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda, and that's it.

This is a story that pops into my head at night. Well, its a first try to mess around with the plot. Especially the way it is being told.

* * *

*

His head ached painfully, lying on the wooden floor as he woke up from no connection. His vision was blurred, seeing everything stained in light yellow. Po rubbed his eyes to make sure no dirt was there. Then again, it didn't change a thing.

Bending his head around he saw a knife placed beside him, stained with red; soon registered it as blood. He was lying on the kitchen floor, no doubt. The ground extended itself far beyond the room, with all those table and chairs towering beside him.

_What happened?_ Po checked himself. No, he was fine, yet the image of him accidentally stabbing himself was there.

The kitchen was covered in complete twilight, a scene which often seen at sunset. Some of the cupboard mirrors reflected the yellow lights, but half of the room was still covered in darkness.

The panda slowly got on his feet, picking the knife as he did. He took a short scan on it, before washing the red liquid off with pipe water. The item was dried and put back to the shelf. Done, no one got hurt. Not him at least, probably just tomato or chili sauce. The moment he entered the corridor, Po nearly bumped into Shifu, the old master.

"Oh jeeezzz sorry." Po jumped out of his way. "I didn't see you coming, Shifu."

"I think I will take a walk in the mountain trail," Shifu mumbled in a low tone. "At least something to help clear the thoughts."

"Ahh… okay."

The red panda continued to move along the corridor, hands behind his back, mumbling something to himself endlessly until he was out of the view.

Suddenly, he remembered something and chased after his master. "Wait! Master Shifu, you haven't state your order for tonight's dinner yet!"

Po lost him at a corner. "Wow, that's fast."

* * *

*

Po exits the building, and found himself engulfed by blinding sun light. Far across the horizon, the sun was there, blazing brightly above the line separating the sky and land. Everything was in deep yellow. It's like he was looking at an aged brown paper, but more real and touchable instead. He stared at the ground as he move along the marbled path, couldn't stop worrying about possible eye problems. Maybe if he surfaced it to Shifu, he might get the right answer, or probably treatment.

The training hall's door was open, and he saw Tigress training by herself - with the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion again. Apparently, the feline didn't notice him, but that's okay, he got nothing to say to her.

The sun is starting to set, and soon darkness will fall. Po hastened his paces as he walked down the thousands steps, hoping that he still manage to get some ingredients for dinner.

* * *

*

He reached his destination soon, standing in the middle of the market alley. Sadly, the store wasn't open, along with the others stores he checked. Was it Labor Day? No way, but there doesn't seem to be any store opening now. Nevertheless, he could just make a good old soup noodle again; having all the food packed for months to come.

"Hello, Dragon Warrior!"

He turned around, only to see a bunny kid running by. To his devastation, she was referring to the _fake_ Dragon Warrior.

Another boy came passed him, posing some of Po's _awesome _acts before running off. Ever since he became the dragon warrior, some kids started naming themselves too. It was disturbing, but then again, believing in yourself was one of the point of being a Dragon Warrior.

Until he finally snapped out of his day dreaming, he called the bunny girl, "Hey, is there any store open-"

How silly was he to find himself talking alone, when the kids were no longer there? In fact, he was alone in the whole market alley.

The sun was now halved across the horizon - a signal for everyone to start shutting themselves up. Street torches had lit without his notice, lighting up the roads that were carved by hundreds of houses. His cooking time had passed, and he needs to get back, pronto. So he ran, past the alley, past the market place and through the housing.

It was then to his surprise when an old folk suddenly came out from a corner. Po couldn't stop himself from ramming into him.

"Oops, I am so …… Huh!?"

His was stunned when he realized he just ran through the old man. No, not over or tumbling on him, but completely through him. Despite this completely bizarre accident, the old man continued to walk as if nothing happened. Still numbed, Po watches the old folk walked himself slowly to the distance. It came to him when he realized that person's image was blurring, until the point he was completely mixed into the air.

"What the heck?!" Po couldn't stop himself yelping for that.

Probably just some magic trick an old master would have, yet it still flooded his mind as he rarely seen this. He couldn't do anything, except hurried back into the palace.

* * *

*

When Po was a few steps from the kitchen, he was a bit surprised to find the furious five coming out of the room.

"Guys, sorry for the dinner. I will make it quick!" Po apologized hastily. But they seem to ignore him.

"Nice cooking," praised Mantis. "But I think it needed some more salt on the meat."

"Huh?" Po muttered. They _had _dinner without him?! Who _did_ the cooking?!

The five obviously don't pay much attention to him, they only walked pass him.

"Okay guys, I know I passed my cooking period, but I _am_ sorry!" Po apologized desperately, feeling awfully guilty for skipping his cooking duty. It hits him like a brick.

"If _only_ Po volunteered to cook today it wouldn't had been me," said Viper in a low tone.

"Yeah, so why won't he?" The gang laughed as they continued to ignore Po.

"Guys, come on!" called him again, but they didn't respond. He chased after them to the entrance, hoping to get their attention. Yet, puzzled he was, when their figures started to blur out, and vanished before he could touch them.

Po stood there, obviously freaked out. He stupidly looked up and down to search for the tricks. No, not a clue he could think of, nothing at all; it was exactly the same he seen for the old man.

"Po," called Shifu from behind. "Don't forget to lock the kitchen door."

"Master, do you see that!?" Po turned back to look at Shifu, but no one was there.

_Okay, that was something._

"You have the key with you right?" came the master's voice again behind him. This time, Po instantly turned his head, but only to see the red panda vanished in front of him.

* * *

*

Po was sitting alone at the Jade Palace's entrance, wondering his night time off as he tried to clear his thought. He didn't eat since he just lost his appetite; feeling nothing more than a man who seemed to meet his doom. Everyone vanished, what else could he do?

Most important thing was… _What happened next? _

Everything else was a little dull and yellow, and he was sick of seeing them. He could see the housing lit up dully below the mountain. The moon has a darker yellow than usual, and the front yard marbles was yellow instead of grey. The sky and land was darker than usual, and he thought he started seeing ghosts at the dark corners.

"Something is definitely not right over here," mumbled him as he sunk his jaw under his crossed arms. Maybe he will go home, and take a nice little break. Hopefully it will wear off by tomorrow.

_That might help. _He thought to himself.

Suddenly, the air turned cold and freezing. He felt himself chilling almost instantly by it. _Okay_, maybe it's just his imagination. But if his senses were not playing tricks on him, there was someone right behind him, or _something_.

The wooden floor's cracking sound marked its exact location for him. He didn't turned, but he could feel the presence of it, very, _very_ _close_. It was moving in a slow pace, passing him. Obviously the thing doesn't plan to disturb him, but he shouldn't take his chances. He was panic, but managed to stay quiet. His spine was frozen, his muscle was intensely stressed.

Then it came, weak and dreadful, the sounds of a mere whisper.

"_Stars… brilliant they were."_

His hairs stood up. Carefully not to make a huge movement, he peaked through his shoulder.

_White… as in white long gown… hair… nope… it was…. It was… _

"Tigress?" said Po, and the she stopped her track. To say the least, the feline's figure was a bit blur under the moonlight. "What are you doing in that thing?"

* * *

*

In his room, cramped by pots and bowls, Po was shivering under his blanket. He trembled as he cornered himself beside his bed. The air around gripped him like solid rock. The midnight whispers haunted his hearing. He was too scared to move, too scared to sleep. He couldn't clear his thought for what he had seen. The image had eaten his brain. His emotion was lost. In fact, he completely lost himself.

He remembered running his way down to the valley, screaming. Everything around him seemed to be watching him, amused by his panic. Heads popping out from random corners as he ran along the Valley of Peace, laughing in a way that he had to shut his ears to stop hearing them.

There was something else chasing him. Whether or not his senses were playing tricks again, he couldn't care anymore. All he did was run. He clumsily trembled over a few things along his way, but he didn't stop there.

Soon, he reached his own house. There wasn't a light in it, but that didn't matter. He hastily burst through the main door, and jammed it shut with a stick.

"Dad!" called him as he continued to shut all the windows. There was no respond.

He quickly reached for the goose's room, bursting the door open. "Dad!?"

No, he is not in.

"Oh come on dad, where are you!?"

The things were now everywhere, circling all over his house. He could sense them starting to get in, as the air begun to freeze again. He hurried over to his room, slamming the door behind him.

And for all he cares, he pulled his bed sheet and covered himself, waiting for the moment to pass.

* * *

*

_Everyone was gone...._

_He is all alone, and so afraid...._

_For what he saw, was a faceless white puppet..._


	2. Beyond the Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda, and that's it.

Well, it's been long enough. I had problem keeping the pace together, as well as the writing. But, I hope I deliver the story right in place... for you.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Beyond The Past**

Someone sounded the morning gong… _someone_ at least. Po had been waiting for that. He couldn't sleep, and was definitely tired, but no longer panic. He gained his self-conscious somewhere over the night. The things that chased him never made their way into his room, a good thing to cry about.

He opened his eyes to look around, seeing nothing but darkness. Of course, the windows were shut tight; there shouldn't be any light coming in. He couldn't stop reviewing the image of the faceless puppet he saw. It came and went repeatedly over the night, and that's what keeping him awake.

He had to find a way. He had to know what to do next. Hiding in his room won't get him anywhere, but the idea of stepping outside was crazy._ What choice do I have?_

Throwing off the blanket, he crawled himself towards the nearest window and slit it open. The light shot in through the opening, and it blinded him just as he peered outside.

_Nope, everything is cool. _

The twilight color was still there, covering his vision as he spent hours roaming the Valley of Peace. There was nobody around, and nothing was moving as well.

He went back to the Jade Palace next, in a slow but courageous approach. He had to constantly checked the corner before moving in, going like operating an infiltrating mission.

He soon dived himself into the Sacred Halls of Warriors, and quickly hid behind a pillar. The relics looked untouched, and the floor was clean; no sound, no whisper, no movement, nothing.

Obviously, there was no one else in here, so he decided to leave after checking it thoroughly. It was then he rammed into Zeng at the entrance. Again, he completely went through the goose like a magic trick.

"Master Shifu, master Shifu!" called the goose. Po watched him ran along the hall.

_Shifu was here? I thought I checked the… Nevermind. _Po followed the goose to the end of the hall.

From what he observed, the goose was carrying a plate of mirror, and it looked awfully familiar to him. To his surprise, he found Shifu meditating beside the moon pool.

The old master flipped his ear when they closed in. "Can I help you?"

"We had just received a relic from the Chang Tao Training School. They said they would be honored if you can keep it in the Hall of Warriors."

Shifu slowly opened his eyes, and examined the relic. "What is it?"

Much to his expectation, the two ignored his presence. Zeng continued, "Sorry sir, I don't really understand their explanations. But they warned me not to-"

"Po!" shouted Crane from the entrance.

Shrugged, the panda turned at him. "Hey, when did you…"

"Don't forget you got a sparring practice to attend!" continued Crane. Po couldn't make out the crane's expression, but he thought he was hiding a laugh, or a smile.

"Go ahead Po," said Shifu calmly. "I will join you at dinner".

Po widened his eyes, "You can see me?"

_Dumb question… _He thought. _Then again, maybe not. _

Tracing Shifu's line of sight, he was looking at something else, and definitely not Po. That goes the same with Zeng. He tried waving his hands in front of his master, but the red panda didn't react. Well, normally he would, with a frown or something.

Not long after Crane exit the hall, Zeng and Shifu disappeared in front of him.

"Awwh MAN! Off with the magic trick again!" he exploded.

* * *

*

Po was heading towards the training hall as told, but his mind was somewhere else.

_What was that mirror plate thingy? It looked familiar_ He thought, He got a feeling that he seen it, but can't remember much.

_And that Crane's speech was…. somehow like a déjà vu. If I am not mistaken, they are trying to… _

Suddenly, Monkey came out of a corner and dashed through his body. _Urgh! _

He felt nothing, but the image of his body being gone through by someone was rather disgusting; he felt so exposed.

"Ahaha, Po been jinxed!" Mantis, Crane and Tigress came through him again. _Triple Urgh!_ And if he wasn't in transparent state, he swore he would get a slap from Tigress - for accidentally kissing her.

The three were gone before he could respond. Po didn't bother chasing after them. No, what's the need? They would probably swoosh off again.

It seemed like the world was happening without him. Surely they couldn't just screamed "Po been jinxed!", while nothing really happened to him.

_Jinx? _Po hastened his steps. _If I am not wrong that would be…_

He was right. A spilled bucket of water was laid on the training hall entrance. Last thing he remembered, Crane tricked him to enter the hall first. Then, *splash*… as in showered by water.

_Yeah, that's it. _Po tip-toed carefully across the wet ground and carefully pushed the door.

_A bucket of water was dropped on top of me. _Po looked up. Even though there was nothing, he couldn't resist shielding himself. It just came to him like reflect.

_Déjà vu? Let's try again. _

Next thing he remembered was the gang went exiting the hall through the back door. So, as stated, he did the same. He hastened his steps as if he was running. _Yeah, I did chase them after that. _

He exits the hall, turned right from there, and continued tracing. He was in the back yard right now, with flowers and pots hanging along the corridor. _Then I tripped somethi-_

He found himself tumbling onto the ground when he made a corner turn. _Umph!_

_Coincident? I think not. _He looked back while lying on his stomach, finding a broken flower pot at his feet.

_Oops. Yeah, that's what happened. Don't panic, Shifu can't hit me, he can just went through me for that._

Continuing his pacing, he traced around the Jade Palace for hours. Eventually, he ended up standing in front of the kitchen building.

_Of course! This is where the whole thing started… _

The sun started to set again, and he wondered how long have he stopped eating. Right before he open the door, it was swung open. But instead of banging hard on his nose, it simply went through him.

"Haha! Twice!" shouted Mantis as he and other furious four came charging out of the building. Okay, second slap if not in transparent state.

Po watched them vanished into the air before long, smirking as he remembered they successfully tricked him, twice. Naturally, he was getting used to this vanishing magic, and couldn't stop himself from waving at the air. "Bye…"

_But that doesn't explain the door part. _As far as he remembered, if he could touch any object, he should be able to hit by it as well. But he shouldn't bother thinking it now.

He didn't remember chasing them after that, probably knocking himself out in the kitchen.

* * *

*

Weird, the kitchen floor wasn't wet, and there is no trace of spilled water bucket either. As far as he knew, it was here that he received the second bucket.

He remembered cleaning it himself. Problem is, why he never seen _himself_.

"Of course," mumbled him, and chuckled. "I am here."

He paused to think for a while. So far the things happened were somehow like a déjà vu. Although that doesn't explain the ghost, but he knew everything happened before. He certainly can't remember anything that goes way back beyond his awakening. But what about letting it flows right now? The memories certainly clicked back to him, just a small piece. If he could extend it beyond here…

Po let his instinct take him, randomly grabbed a knife from the shelf; was a bit shock when it's the same knife he found earlier. He examined it a while, before grabbing a fish from the sink.

_Weird, where did it come from?_

His actions were taken like reflects, he done this before, he knew he had. He started pilling the fish's fin off, then pierced the knife into the middle, slicing the fish into half. The blood started drooling over his knife. But he didn't stop there.

He chopped off its head then, only to find himself overwhelmed by a foul smell.

"Urgh, gross!" Without hesitation, Po threw the fish outside the window.

_Oops… I think I did regret doing that._

"Po!"

"Arrggh!" the panda screamed in respond and turned to the entrance. Much to his relief, or horror, Master Shifu was glaring at him.

"Hi," greeted Po automatically. "I errr.. yeah, hi."

"We don't throw our garbage like that."

"I am sorry." Again, his mouth spoke by itself.

"That's okay. But you better go pick it up later. I don't want to see my garden rots with flies."

"Yes master chief!"

How stupid of him to talk to someone who couldn't hear him. But for the first time ever, he had tied himself up with the world. He watched Shifu leaped onto a chair, slowly sliding a mirror plate on the table. That's the one he saw earlier!

"What's that?" asked Po.

"Don't really know yet," replied Shifu as he took out a scroll and started to read. "Am checking for it."

"Ow-okay," Po replied, still gripping the blood-stained knife in his hand. He extended his arms to take the mirror plate, but Shifu didn't notice. He held it in front of him, soon realized that the reflection in the mirror plate… actually contained _color_.

"Huh!?" breathed him aloud, catching Shifu's attention.

"Po! NO!"

Suddenly, the walls started to rot and melt to the ground. The world began twirling around him, twisting and distorting dangerously. The mirror was accidentally let go, but instead it floated right where he held it. It started emitting flashes, blinding him as he covered himself using his arms. The knife was dropped, falling to the ground with a huge *thump* that echoed over the place. His head became extremely dizzy afterward, with his body parts twisting in a horrible way.

* * *

*

Po opened his eyes again, to be engulfed in total darkness. It took a while before everything came blurring in. The first thing he noticed upon his awakening, was the return of colors. Damn, he missed it so much. He scanned around, only to find himself lying on his own bed. He was in the Jade Palace alright, instantly recognized the usual setting. The room was dark, possibly night hour.

_What just happened again? _He gave a rubbed on his head. Despite his confusion, he was still glad that he returned, from whatever it is.

_Probably just a dream…_

He got on his feet and walked himself to exit his room. Someone were snoring awfully loud, probably monkey. But it feels good to hear some sounds rather than seeing people vanishing. He needed some answers, but the only one he could find was probably deep asleep.

He was terribly weak, and starved. He needs food, as in right now. Probably go make some in the kitchen. Maybe a good old soup noodle would help to ease the starvation.

* * *

*

Po was a bit shock when he saw light in the kitchen window.

_Who would probably stay up so late? _He thought.

He dragged himself along the corridor, moving closer and closer to the kitchen. He didn't go in immediately, just gave a peak through the corner.

He was surprise to see who's in there. "Master Shifu?" called him. The master was a bit shock when he first saw him, but quickly returned a smile.

"Ahhh… Po." Shifu put down the tea in his hand. "I was starting to worry that you won't be coming."

"What?"

"Don't stand there, take a sit." Shifu went over the stove, and took out a plate of finely steamed dumplings from a cooking pot.

"You were expecting me?" Po eyed over the dumplings.

"Why won't I?" The old master placed the dumplings in front of him. "Here, help your self."

Shifu simply frowned when Po started to sniff, "Don't cry."

"Okay." The panda rubbed his arm over his nose, then discarded it on his chest. Obviously, his master was a bit disgusted, shaking his head. Without hesitation, Po started gulping down the dumplings, but his mind was somewhere else, and Shifu noticed.

He sat next to Po, where his tea was placed. "I'm sorry that I didn't warn you about The Golden Mirror first."

"Nah... Don't worry, that's okay," replied Po. "So uurmmmm.... That's what it called huh? Golden Mirror."

"Yes, it was a relic that reflects people's memory."

"Details?" asked Po, grabbing another dumpling. Shifu had a pause before explained.

"The mirror will throw you into a realm that completely builds from your memory. It is basically a physical illustration that allowed you to roam…. In a world that your memory has. And the events that happened, or things that you had before will slowly replay themselves along. Without you of course. Now they won't be in a good order, because their sequences were affected by your emotion."

"Wow, so that explains the random pops up." Po swallowed the rest of his food before going at another.

"Apparently, there is a risk: You can't wake up until 4 hours later."

"Really? But I thought I woke up because I glanced at the mirror during my err…. Memory time."

Shifu chuckled. "That was such a coincidence."

There was a pause, before Po continued. "What about the people vanishing?"

Shifu raised an eyebrow. "You mean signs of people blurring out into the air? That is where your memory met its dead end."

"Dead end?"

"In other words, 'things that you never get to watch'. Of course, you can't remember things that you never heard, see or touch. It is impossible."

Shifu received an 'owh' afterwards.

"What about faceless people?" asked Po. "I gotta tell ya, it scares the heck out of me."

"Really?" Shifu took a sip on his tea. "That was the same reason of you having only seen their rough figure, not their whole."

"Ooooow..... Okay. What about the ghosts, the thingies?" Po hastily asked.

"Ghosts?" repeated Shifu, rather confused.

"Yeah, I am really sure I was chased by something back there, something that chills me. You can even feel the cold for that."

To his surprise, Shifu only chuckled. "I think that is your own imagination, Po."

"What?!"

"As I have mentioned before, the mirror reflects your memory, which depends solely on your brain's interpretation. Further possibility, was that it had gotten to the false side of your memory."

Po's jaw dropped. "My _false side of the memory?_"

Shifu smiled at him. "Where do you think you get your nightmare from?"

Po widened his eyes. The brain sometimes had its own doing of messing things up. Normally one would face problem remembering things that wasn't there, mainly because of self overwhelming brainwash. And nightmare happened when one has an unpleasant emotion, such as stress. And Po certainly did. When he saw the faceless woman… That was his source of tense that had his brain worked up; leading to the creation of nightmare replicas, which were then jammed into the realm.

Po nodded quietly in agreement.

"Any more question?"

"There is one though. Who has a white gown over here?" asked Po. But when he gave a thought into it, nailing the scope down to the Jade Palace won't be hard to find a figure like that.

Shifu raised an eyebrow, and smiled, "Who else?"

Po was dumbstruck, so it was her.

"Rarely seen her in that kind of dress, aren't we?" Shifu chuckled. "She only wore it once, then bragged about how hard to wash the cloth..."

"So she never wears it again," Po finished. There was a long pause slipping through, with Shifu holding the china in his hand, and Po's mouth filling with dumplings. From what he had recalled, that white gown was given by the village, as a present for her during the Moon Festival. Tigress never liked it, saying it's too fluffy to dress on, and get a lot of icthiness afterwards.

"Well," started Shifu, leaping off the chair with his tea and pot. "Good night. Anything else you wished to talk about we will have it by tomorrow."

"Ow-kay." Po swallowed his food.

"And oh, I almost forgot." Shifu stopped his track. "Clear out the rotten fish at the yard first thing in the morning."

"Oh."

"And 30 miles hike in the mountains for breaking my flower pot."

The panda twitched one of his eyes.

"With me," finished Shifu with a smile. "I'll be glad to have a company."

He disappeared around the corner after finish, and Po finally swallowed his food... hard.

**The End**

* * *

That's it, folks.. Thanks for reading. Nightmare and brain theory was solely based on a simple research, experiences and concepts. It is not fully based on real professional thought, mind you. So, it can be proven wrong... If its wrong, which I even don't know either. =)


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